


Request Denied

by valda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Death Wish, Denial of Feelings, M/M, Major Character Injury, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22159996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valda/pseuds/valda
Summary: Kylo has been away on a mission. In his absence, General Hux has done something foolish.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 21
Kudos: 149





	Request Denied

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Запрос отклонён](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23500729) by [Lenuchka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lenuchka/pseuds/Lenuchka)



> This little fic was written for my 2019 Christmas cards, and I wanted to share it with everyone. Merry Kyluxmas!

In the cockpit of his TIE Silencer, Kylo Ren sits with his eyes closed, gripping the yoke to keep his hands from shaking.

For the past two hours, he’s been stuck in hyperspace. Regular reports have been coming in from the _Finalizer_ , but they’re not particularly useful, because he can’t do anything about them. He can’t do anything at all, other than sit and wait and think about everything else that could go wrong.

Until the moment Kylo heard that General Hux had been critically injured in an attempted coup, he thought he’d welcome such news. The fact that Hux is still alive in the first place is baffling; Kylo hasn’t killed him yet and he doesn’t know why. It should be a relief that someone else has taken the initiative.

Curiously, and annoyingly, it isn’t a relief at all.

Kylo sucks his teeth and chews his lips, tipping his head back and knocking his helmet against the headrest. Hux is not out of danger. Even if his injuries weren’t grave, he’s trapped. Vulnerable. One of Kylo’s more ambitious officers might take it upon themselves to finish the job.

Especially since Hux is now officially a traitor.

“Never should have left him,” Kylo says aloud to the empty cockpit. If Kylo had brought Hux along, kept him close as he’s always done before, ever since the throne room, Hux wouldn’t have had a chance to try anything. He wouldn’t have had the time to rally his supporters, to lead them in a bold but ultimately futile attempt to take control of the First Order fleet.

He wouldn’t be lying half dead in medbay now.

Arrogant fool. He might be beloved by the subadults who staff all those ships, but he’s never been ready for true power. Wouldn’t know what to do with it if he got it. Didn’t, that day in the throne room. Hux needs Kylo. He needs to be reined in, to be guided. He’s a tinkerer, not an emperor, and only by serving Kylo can he achieve his true potential. If he would only listen. If he would only kneel willingly, accept Kylo’s rule, put his skills to use for the good of the Order. Kylo has always assumed Hux would see reason eventually. Someday. It occurs to him now, as he sits powerlessly in hyperspace, that it might not simply be a matter of time; it might not happen at all.

The overnight shift is half over when Kylo finally arrives at the _Finalizer_. He springs from the cockpit as soon as his ship touches down, stalks through the hangar at a near jog. He usually barely notices the crew as they leap out of his way and into attention, but today he sees them all: nervous, frightened, wary. The attempted coup was practically a civil war, and those on the wrong side still serve. How committed they are to the cause over the man lying in medbay remains to be seen. Hux’s death would send them a message, cement Kylo’s place as Supreme Leader. Kylo should see to it himself.

Even the medical staff seem more skittish than usual when Kylo strides in. “Where is he?” he asks without preamble, and no one has to ask what he means. He’s led to a secure room at the back of the facility, guarded by carefully vetted stormtroopers. Hux’s bed is surrounded by medical equipment, each specialized piece doing something different to keep Hux alive. The loss of any one of them would probably be fatal.

Kylo steps close to the bed and looks down at him. Hux’s eyes are closed; his eyelids are purple against the pallor of his skin, and his lips have lost all color. Miraculously, none of the five officers and stormtroopers who shot him managed to hit him in the head. Kylo knew this already, but it’s still striking to see Hux’s sickly but otherwise intact face above the mess of bacta bandages and tubes covering the rest of his body.

“You were careless,” Kylo tells him instead of simply unhooking one of the tubes and finishing it. “So long as I live, there’s no way for you to wrest control of the Order. You should have killed me first.” Hux’s eyelids flutter; as Kylo watches Hux opens his eyes, wets his dry lips weakly with his tongue.

“Look who’s here,” Hux rasps out. “Now I can finally die.”

Understanding hits Kylo all at once, shuddering through him like Force lightning. Hux didn’t mean for his coup to succeed. He wants out. He’d rather die than serve Kylo.

Xenon lamps flicker, casting trembling shadows across Hux’s limp face. Then the rest of the equipment begins to rattle, metal groaning as massive consoles shift. Hux shows no reaction when his bed starts shaking. This is what he wants. He wants Kylo’s anger. He wants Kylo to kill him. Kylo forces down the desire to break, to crush, to destroy. There are, as Hux himself has shown him, other ways to exact revenge. Letting out a long exhale, Kylo fixes his eyes on Hux’s. “No, General,” he says. His heart is in his throat, and once again his hands are shaking. “You’re going to live. For a very long time.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...see what I did there?


End file.
